Please pray for Cory, I love you all, Donna
 

8-29-05    Dear Mrs. Karen and Friends at Landstuhl Hospital Care Project: 

I know that this thank you is long overdue but now that things have settled down here at home and I am back to work at the base, I can finally get my thoughts together.  Thank you just isn't enough - how can I ever thank all the people in your wonderful group for all the work and effort they put into helping me to get well and safely home.  It was just a few short weeks ago that I was so sick on my ship that I was told that I was going to have to go by L-CAC to shore to an Army hospital in the middle of the desert for treatment.  That was bad enough but then I was told that for further treatment I was going to have to get into a van with full gear and weapons and travel across the desert again through dangerous areas to a medical transport plane and travel hours on that plane to a hospital in Germany.  Was I ever going to get well, was I ever going to feel good again.  I had my doubts and was depressed and discouraged and dreaded what was ahead.  I had never felt so low and homesick in my life.  All I had to hold on to were the words of a praying mom who told me that she had faith that things were going to get better and that I was going to get well and be happy again.  She said that she knew that there were people out there praying for me and she KNEW that God would put people in my path to take care of me and the needs that I had.  Well, was she ever right.....Mrs. Karen and friends at Landstuhl Hospital Care Project I can't put into words how shocked and surprised I was when our plane touched down and the first face I saw getting off the plane was the Chaplain from the hospital.  How did my mom from thousands of miles away know what was happening.  The Chaplain embraced all of us and believe me there were many on the plane worse off then I was with injuries from burns, gun wounds, broken bones, missing eyes, etc. etc. etc.  Some had just the clothes on their backs and that was hospital gowns, nothing else.  Well that Chaplain handed us a little bag with candy in it, a dvd, a phone card and many other little treats - that little bag lifted my spirit so much you all will never know.  Just looking at it put tears in my eyes.  The candy was gone in a second, the phone card - well, I just knew I had to call my mom and tell her about the wonderful things that were happening at Landstuhl Hospital and the DVD, finally I could relax in a real bed and have time alone and watch a movie.  How I longed for that while I was on the ship and in the desert.  Well, it didn't stop there....it got better and better.  Once inside the hospital the Chaplain asked if there was anything I needed and when I told him I was out of uniform and needed a camouflage uniform to be in regulations - it wasn't five minutes later and he was there with everything I needed from my floppy hat down to my brand new boots - I cried because I couldn't believe that this was possible.  After a nap the Chaplain was there again to check on me and took me down to his little corner of the hospital which was the size of a Corner Mart and showed me the most wonderful sight...there were MORE DVD's and I could have any I wanted.....I was in awe at the selection and all the wonderful things that were there just for me and for my buddies who came into the hospital wounded, sick or injured.  I saw duffle bags, candy (that was wonderful), sweat suits, shoes, anything of a toiletry nature that I could possibly want, it goes on and on and on.  There were more phone calls and I could call home anytime I wanted for free.  It was here at this hospital and with the help of your program that this lonely, sick, and exhausted sailor knew that what his mom had said was true.  That there were people who cared, there were people who worried about us and made sure that our needs were meant to the smallest detail - even to my favorite juicy fruit gum and DVD's.  People sometimes just don't realize that it's the small things that make the biggest difference and help us to recover from a war that has taken it's toll on us mentally, physically and spiritually.  Landstuhl Hospital Care Project was there and this sailor will never forget the wonderful face of God's servant, our Chaplain, whose face was glowing like a Christmas tree and arms opened wide for us as we got off that military transport plane.  Thank God for him and for all of you who made all these things possible for me to feel good again.  Thanks so much for all you did for my Mom who worried endlessly when she couldn't find me there and you always knew just where I was and called to check on me personally (Mom still doesn't know how you did it - she said you were magic - I say something different - I think you're an angel and God put you there in my path to make me well just like my mom said God would.  Thanks for all you did to help me on the road to recovery and for making me feel so at home - a special thanks for all you did for Mom too. Thank you for remembering our military - you make a difference and I thank God you were all there for me, just one American Sailor. 

With God's love and thanks,

BM3 Cory R. Pashkowitz, United States Navy,

Wallops Island, Virginia